Computeropolis 2
PG (action; humor)|Directed by = Audel LaRoque|Produced by = Brandon Minez|Written by = Michael Wildshill Audel LaRoque Mike Reiss|Story by = Audel LaRoque Michael Wildshill Karey Kirkpatrick Mike Reiss|Starring = Jesse McCartney David Spade Sarah Silverman Chris Pine Eddie Izzard Dan Fogler David Hyde Pierce Jodi Benson Jennifer Tilly|Music = John Debney Heitor Pereira|Editors = Tom F. Warner|Studios = Gingo Animation|Distributor = Universal Studios|Release Dates = July 6, 2007|Running Time = 102 minutes|Country = United States|Language = English}}Computeropolis 2 is a 2007 American computer-animated science fiction action-comedy film produced by Gingo Animation for Universal Pictures. It was directed by Audel LaRoque from a screenplay by Michael Wildshill, LaRoque, and Mike Reiss, and a story by LaRoque, Wildshill, Karey Kirkpatrick, and Reiss. The sixth feature film from Gingo Animation, it is the sequel to 2004's Computeropolis, and takes place two years after the first film, with Peri Dazz now being 16 years old. It focuses on Peri and the gang entering a multiplayer virtual reality online world, during which Peri finds love. Soon, Computeropolis plunges into chaos when a group of hackers try to hijack Peri's computer and take over the cyber city. Development of Computeropolis 2 began in 2004, after the success of the original film. LaRoque, who directed the first film, agreed to return to direct the sequel, after he was no longer directing Gingo's film version of Big Hero 6, which was abandoned by the studio due to story problems. LaRoque and the story team developed the plot for the sequel over a weekend in November 2004. The original voice cast of the first film — Jesse McCartney, David Spade, Dan Fogler, David Hyde Pierce, Jodi Benson, Jon Lovitz and Jennifer Tilly — reprised their roles, joined by Sarah Silverman, Chris Pine and Eddie Izzard. John Debney and Heitor Pereira also returned to compose the original score for the sequel. Computeropolis 2 was released in the United States on July 6, 2007 by Universal Pictures, and was a critical and commercial success. It earned over $953 million worldwide on its $180 million budget, making it the highest-grossing animated film of 2007, the second highest-grossing film of the year, and the tenth highest-grossing animated film of all time. Computeropolis 2 won two Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Adapted Screenplay, and being the first animated Universal film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, it also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film, six Annie Awards (including Best Animated Feature), two Kids' Choice Awards for Favorite Animated Movie and Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie (Jesse McCartney), and the Critics' Choice Award for Best Animated Film. It was followed by Computeropolis 3 on March 5, 2010. Plot Two years after the events of the first film, a gang of hackers led by James V. Survick (nicknamed Cyber-Boy) invades and captures a secret coding base located far away from Computeropolis, renaming it as "Hackers' Palace". Cyber-Boy encounters a tracking map that leads them to Computeropolis, and they travel to the city, plotting to hack the vulnerable cyber hotspot. Meanwhile, Peri Dazz, now 16 years old, is living his dream as a member of the Desktop Component League (DCL), protecting the city of Computeropolis with his best friend Nicky Kickzoo. The DCL is sent on an assignment to apprehend Mr. Error, an anthropomorphic error message who has recently been bugging the citizens of Computeropolis. They successfully complete the mission, with Mr. Error taken into custody by internet officers Paul and Frank. Soon after, the DCL is rewarded by their leader Manager Marc with a visit to Virtual Paradise, a multiplayer mall park. While playing a game there, Peri spots a girl who also wears a hoodie; however, Nicky takes Peri with him and the gang before he can find out who she is. Back at the DCL headquarters, Marc tells Peri that he longs to find a new job, and leaves the DCL for new employment; Peri thus takes his place as the new leader of the DCL. The next day, Computeropolis mayor Fredrick Moss hires Peri for community service to clean up the mess Mr. Error made the other day; Peri initially refuses, but reluctantly volunteers. During his job, Peri sees the girl he saw at Virtual Paradise, only for Moss to tell him to get back to work. Nicky and the rest of the DCL visit Peri on his job, and Peri tells Nicky he is trying to find out more about the girl he saw, who is heading to Virtual Paradise. After the DCL leaves him, Peri eventually abandons his job and heads off to Virtual Paradise. When Peri catches up with her, the girl introduces herself as Vinna Binz, and Peri instantly falls in love with her. The next day, Cyber-Boy's gang arrives in Computeropolis and attacks the city. Peri, Nicky, and the rest of the DCL show up to stop them, only for the hackers to retreat. Cyber-Boy appears on the city's central monitor, explaining that everyone will not survive in the next 50 hours, as soon as he and his henchmen destroy and hijack the city. Shocked, Peri warns his friends and introduces Vinna to the DCL. Peri and Nicky later take Vinna to Cyber-Boy's hideout so they could spy on Cyber-Boy and his henchmen. As they make a sound which made Cyber-Boy and his henchmen notice them, the trio manage to escape from the minions. Peri tries to make a run for it, but is immediately captured by Cyber-Boy's henchmen. Cyber-Boy is furious at Peri for spying on him, so he sends the boy to the cell in his new inescapable prison. Peri discovers that Cyber-Boy, who is revealed to have hired Marc as a partner, has been planning to build a powerful malware missile labeled the "b00kw0rm" that will destroy the entire city (Peri's hard drive, in other words) upon impact to achieve world domination. Nicky, Vinna and the rest of the DCL later save Peri and help him escape the prison. The heroes then go around and set off all the security alerts, overloading the system. The prison starts to crumble and fall apart. After they escape, Peri and Vinna spend personal time together, and Peri falls in love with her. The next day, Peri buys some Valentine's Day gifts for Vinna, but only to find out that she is moving to Japan so she could spent time studying anime and manga as well as speaking Japanese. She asks Peri to go with her to Japan, but Peri in turn asks Vinna to stay with him when Vinna says it is unlikely she will ever return before leaving right away. A heartbroken Peri lacks the courage to ask Vinna out on a date. Meanwhile, Cyber-Boy orders his henchmen to destroy Computeropolis and take over the city. At the airport, Vinna, who starts catching feelings for Peri, leaves the airport and heads back to Computeropolis. However, by the time she gets there, Vinna is caught by Cyber-Boy and his henchmen, who find out that she is Peri's girlfriend. Fortunately, Marc calls and informs Peri and Nicky, and instructs to rescue Vinna, the duo go undercover to distract Cyber-Boy in order to save Vinna. They find a bound and gagged Vinna strapped to the b00kw0rm, and start to untie her, but Cyber-Boy confronts them by grabbing the remote to launch the missile. The DCL, reunited with Marc, arrive and are able to defeat Cyber-Boy and his henchmen. At the end of the battle, Cyber-Boy becomes dazed and gets shot by Marc using his laser gun, causing Cyber-Boy to transform into a endoskeleton. The next day, Vinna prepares to leave on the taxi but she and Peri decide to remain together anyway, taking Nicky and the rest of the DCL along; they begin their new lives together. Cast *Jesse McCartney as Peri Dazz, a teenage computer wiz *David Spade as Nicky Kickzoo, a video game character whom Peri created *Sarah Silverman as Vinna Binz, a teenage girl Peri develops a crush on. Anne Hathaway was originally cast in the role, but left the film due to creative differences. *Chris Pine as Cyber-Boy, the leader of a group of hackers who try to overthrow Peri's computer *Eddie Izzard as Fredrick Moss, the mayor of Computeropolis *Dan Fogler as Travis, Peri's fat best friend *David Hyde Pierce as Manager Marc, the leader and founding member of the DCL *Jodi Benson as Commander Cindy, a member of the DCL *Jon Lovitz as Notepad Ned, a member of the DCL *Jennifer Tilly as Painting Paula, a member of the DCL *Brian Stepanek as Gene, one of the hackers and Cyber-Boy's henchmen *Kari Wahlgren as Carol, the computer voice *Tress MacNeille as Heather Dazz, Peri's mother *Jeff Bennett as Earl Dazz, Peri's father *Harland Williams as Mr. Error, an anthropomorphic error message. Williams previously voiced Milo in the first film. *Doug Dale as Steve *Adam Buxton as Ben *Audel LaRoque as a spamming player *Joey King as a little girl *Lauren Tom as the girl's mother *Stephen Tobolowsky as a Computeropolis citizen *Kevin Michael Richardson as the announcer *Lori Alan as one of the players *Clea Lewis as a Computeropolis citizen *John DiMaggio as Junior Hacker, one of the hackers *Tom F. Warner as one of the hackers *Michael Wildshill as a charming player *Jim Cummings as a janitor *Carlos Alazraqui as one of the players *Mako Iwamatsu (in his final role) as a Japanese taxi driver Clippit, Bill, Sam, Paul and Frank from its predecessor make non-speaking cameo appearances in various scenes. Additional voices * John Lavelle * Bob Bergen * Jack Angel * Danny Mann * Fred Tatasciore * Wendy Hoffman * Elisa Gabrielli * Michael Wildshill * Jason Marsden * Zachary Gordon * Bill Farmer * Keith Ferguson * Jess Harnell * Bridget Hoffman * Dee Bradley Baker * John Cygan * Ariel Winter * Gregg Berger * John Kassir * Debi Derryberry * Yuri Lowenthal * Joshua Seth * Mona Marshall * Scott Menville * Laraine Newman * Brandon Minez * Bryce Papenbrook * Lloyd Sherr * Jamie Marchi * Jan Rabson Production Development In July 2004, at the time of the release of Computeropolis, Geo G., the Gingo Animation CEO, confirmed that a sequel was in the works, tentatively scheduled for July 6, 2007. In October 2005, Gingo announced a subtitle for the sequel, Internet Chaos, which was changed by March 2006 to The Error of Doom before simply being retitled to Computeropolis 2 in November 2006. On March 19, 2006, it was announced that LaRoque would return to direct the sequel, even though he was originally too busy due to his developing Gingo's adaptation of Big Hero 6, which would later get cancelled. David Silverman, the co-director of the first film, did not return for the film due to his occupation with The Simpsons Movie, but remained as a consultant for the film. Over the weekend in early-November 2004, a story team consisting of LaRoque, Michael Wildshill, Karey Kirkpatrick, and Mike Reiss was assembled and came up with an idea of the sequel, conceiving the idea of how Peri would find his love in a virtual world. Wildshill then wrote a treatment. Casting In May 2005, Variety reported that Jodie Foster was negotiating to voice Peri's love interest, named Vinna Binz, but the negotiations failed. By December 2005, Anne Hathaway had joined the cast to voice Vinna. In May 2006, Gingo confirmed that Jesse McCartney, David Spade, Dan Fogler, David Hyde Pierce, Jodi Benson, Jon Lovitz, and Jennifer Tilly were returning to reprise their roles. Newcomers include Chris Pine as Cyber-Boy and Eddie Izzard as Fredrick Moss. On April 22, 2007, just a month before the film's first full trailer, it was announced that Anne Hathaway had left the film over creative differences about how her character should come to life. At the time of her departure, Hathaway's character had already been fully voiced and animated. Sarah Silverman, who had already been considered before Hathaway, stepped in to voice Vinna. Due to the finished animation, Silverman had to match her timing exactly to the character's mouth movement. Initially, during her five-day recording, she tried to imitate Hathaway's voice, but found it impossible. She ended up only using Hathaway as an inspiration, and resolved to go with her own interpretation of the character. Her work was commended by Variety, saying: "You'd never guess she wasn't the filmmakers' first choice." Release In June 2007, Computeropolis 2 was selected for competition at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, and Universal Pictures released the film in the United States on July 6, 2007. Marketing A teaser trailer was released on November 3, 2006 and was shown in front of films such as Flushed Away, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, Happy Feet, Jimmy & Sam 3000, and Night at the Museum. The official trailer was released on March 30, 2007 and was shown in front of films such as Meet the Robinsons, Shrek the Third, Surf's Up, Tony 2: Across the Nation, and Ratatouille. TV spots began to air between June and early July of 2007. The film was backed by a large marketing campaign, with toys, books, games, clothes, and many other items becoming available throughout 2007. A video game based on the film has been released for the Wii, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation Portable, PC and Nintendo DS. Home media Computeropolis 2 was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 11, 2007 by Universal Studios Home Entertainment. It was released on Blu-ray 3D on May 3, 2011. Reception Box office Computeropolis 2 opened in 4,219 North American theaters on its opening weekend, grossing $25.1 million on its first day, which was the biggest Friday opening day in July. During its opening weekend, Computeropolis 2 earned $42.5 million from 4,219 theaters, which at the time set new records such as the highest opening for a Gingo Animation film, the highest opening for a 2007 film in the United States and Canada, and previously held the biggest opening for an animated feature (record overtaken by Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs in 2009). Regarding the film's successful opening, Lauren Martin, Universal Pictures' president of marketing said, "We had a great date, and this is a big win for Gingo." Computeropolis 2 grossed $532,928,031 domestically (US and Canada) and $591,324,272 in foreign markets for a total of $953,476,361 worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film worldwide of 2007 (behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and the highest-grossing Universal/Gingo film of that year. In addition, Computeropolis 2 was the highest-grossing animated film of 2007, the second highest-grossing Universal Studios film (behind Jurassic Park in 1993) and the highest-grossing animated film ever, marking the extreme popularity of the Computeropolis franchise. As a result, it got a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes Critical response Computeropolis 2 has received universal critical acclaim from critics, with many considering it as good or even better than its predecessor. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 7.3/10 based on 186 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "The elements seem familiar to fans of the original, but Computeropolis 2 gives some more action scenes, humor, and its fantastic animation with a batch of new characters." Another review aggregator Metacritic gave the film a score of 95 out of 100, based on 47 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Accolades Main article: List of accolades received by Computeropolis 2 Computeropolis 2 ''won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and was nominated for Best Picture, Best Original Score, Sound Editing, and Sound Mixing at the 80th Academy Awards, which it lost to ''No Country for Old Men (Best Picture), Atonement (Original Score), and The Bourne Ultimatum ''(Sound Editing and Sound Mixing). ''Computeropolis 2 made a healthy appearance at the various 2007 end-of-the-year awards circles, particularly in the Best Picture category, where animated films are often overlooked. It has won the award, or the equivalent of it, from the Boston Society of Film Critics (tied with No Country for Old Men), the Chicago Film Critics Association, the Central Ohio Film Critics awards, the Online Film Critics Society, and most notably the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, where it became the first animated feature to win the prestigious award. It was named as one of 2007's ten best films by the American Film Institute and the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. It won Best Animated Feature Film at the 65th Golden Globe Awards, 80th Academy Awards, and the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2007. It was nominated for several awards at the 2008 Annie Awards, including Best Feature Film, Animated Effects, Character Animation, Direction, Production design, Storyboarding and Voice acting (for Sarah Silverman); winning Best Feature Film, Animated Effects, Character Animation, Direction, Production design, and Voice Acting. It won Best Animated Feature at the 61st British Academy Film Awards and was also nominated there for Best Music and Sound. It won all three awards it was nominated for by the Visual Effects Society: Best Animation, Best Character Animation and Best Effects in the Animated Motion Picture categories. It became the first animated film to win Best Editing for a Comedy or Musical from the American Cinema Editors. In 2009, Wildshill, LaRoque, and Reiss won the Nebula Award. It won Best Animated Film and was nominated for Best Director at the Saturn Awards. At the British National Movie Awards, which is voted for by the public, it won Best Family Film. It was also voted Best Feature Film at the British Academy Children's Awards. Peri Dazz was listed at #63 on Empire's online poll of the 100 greatest movie characters, conducted in 2008. In early 2010, TIME ranked Computeropolis 2 #1 in "Best Movies of the Decade". In Sight & Sound magazine's 2012 poll of the greatest films of all time, Computeropolis 2 is the second highest ranking animated film behind My Neighbor Totoro (1988), while tying with the film Spirited Away (2001) at 202nd overall. In a 2016 BBC poll of international critics, it was voted the 29th greatest film since 2000. It won two awards at the 2008 Kids' Choice Awards, for Favorite Animated Movie and Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie (for Jesse McCartney). Music Sequel Main article: Computeropolis 3 Transcripts Main To see the main transcript of the film, click here. Trailers To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here. Category:Movies Category:Computeropolis 2 Category:Computeropolis Category:2007 Category:Media